Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones the agency reported to the FBI, through 2025. The jail figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site between September 23, 2026 and September 25, 2026.
Newark, Ohio, in Licking County, has about 51,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and its arrests are reported to the FBI by an agency of its own. An arrest in the city leaves the same records whoever makes it: the arresting agency's report, the record of anyone held at the county jail, and, if the Prosecuting Attorney files charges, a case in the Licking County Court of Common Pleas. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts the agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies and common questions.
Related guides: Newark public records, Licking County arrest records, Ohio arrest records and Ohio inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Newark
The FBI lists Newark with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Newark Police Department. It reported 455 arrests for 2025. A city is listed separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
Outside the city, the Licking County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 430 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Licking County: the Licking Park District and Central Ohio Drug Enforcement Task Force (other); Ohio State University at Newark (campus police).
How Many Arrests Newark Reports
Each agency reports its arrests to the FBI by month, and the FBI publishes them on the Crime Data Explorer. These are the full-year totals, all offenses, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026; a year with months missing or not reported is left out.
- Newark: 455 for 2025, 484 for 2024, 583 for 2023, 592 for 2022, 477 for 2021 and 511 for 2020.
Newark's 455 arrests in 2025 were down 6 percent from 484 in 2024.
Through July 2026, Newark reported 316 arrests, against 250 in the same months of 2025.
Across Licking County, the seven agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 2,221 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Newark Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Newark and kept in custody ends up, whichever agency made the arrest, though a city department may hold someone in its own cells first and a person cited and released at the scene is never booked. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and once the person is released or sentenced the record continues in the court file.
On an average day in 2023 the jail held about 250 people, down from about 340 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 332 beds, and it ran at 101 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the Licking County Sheriff's Office at lickingcounty.gov/depts/sheriff/jail_inmate/default.htm (page title: Licking County | Jail Inmate Information), phone 888-506-8407, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
That page is the place to look for someone who was booked recently; a person cited and released at the scene, or held only a few hours by a city department, will not be on it.
A person sentenced to prison serves the sentence in a facility of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, whose inmate locator is at appgateway.drc.ohio.gov/OffenderSearch.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Newark
Whether someone was arrested in Newark, and what came of it, shows up in three places: the custody page of the Licking County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Licking County Court of Common Pleas, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at lickingcounty.gov/depts/clerk/records_search.htm); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at lickingcounty.gov/depts/prosecutors/default.htm, phone 740-670-5255).
Ohio does not let the public search another person's statewide criminal history. The record kept by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation goes to the person it belongs to and to employers and agencies the law authorizes; for everyone else the court's own case index is the public record of an arrest that led to a charge.
Getting a Copy of an Arrest Record in Newark
The report of an arrest is released by the agency that made it; the jail and the court hold their own records of the same event, but not the report. Under the Ohio Public Records Act the agency must answer promptly, within a reasonable period of time, and it may charge the actual cost of copying.
- An arrest by the Newark police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at newarkpd.com (page title: Newark Ohio Division of Police Web Site), phone 740.670.7200, 39 South 4th Street, Newark OH 43055, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Licking County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 888-506-8407.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Prosecuting Attorney, 740-670-5255, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Licking County Court of Common Pleas, through the court records page at lickingcounty.gov.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at lickingcounty.gov (page title: Licking County | Public Records Request).
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based WebCheck at any WebCheck location.
The Licking County guide covers every agency in the county: Licking County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Newark each year?
Newark reported 455 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Newark?
Look on the custody page of the Licking County Sheriff's Office at lickingcounty.gov, or call 888-506-8407. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Newark booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Licking County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Newark?
The court files of criminal cases in the Licking County Court of Common Pleas are public and can be looked up through the court. The statewide criminal history kept by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is not public; you can get your own. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Ohio Public Records Act.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Newark?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Newark police for its own arrests, the Licking County Sheriff's Office for the sheriff's. Under the Ohio Public Records Act the answer is due promptly, within a reasonable period of time; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at lickingcounty.gov.
Is this the official Newark website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official city, county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.